18 Preface وَجَعَلنا بَينَهُم وَبَينَ القُرَى الَّتي بارَكنا فيها قُرًى ظاهِرَةً وَقَدَّرنا فيهَا السَّيرَ ۖ سيروا فيها لَيالِيَ وَأَيّامًا آمِنينَYusuf AliBetween them and the Cities1 on which We had poured our blessings, We had placed Cities in prominent positions, and between them We had appointed stages of journey in due proportion: “Travel therein, secure, by night and by day.”An instance is now given of the sort of covetousness on the part of the people of Saba, which ruined their prosperity and trade and cut their own throats. The old Frankincense route was the great Highway (imam mubin 15:79; sabil muqim, 15:76) between Arabia and Syria. Through Syria it connected with the great and flourishing Kingdoms of the Euphrates and Tigris valleys on the one hand and Egypt on the other, and with the great Roman Empire round the Mediterranean. At the other end, through the Yemen Coast, the road connected, by sea transport, with India, Malaya, and China. The Yemen-Syria road was much frequented, and Mada'in Ṣālih was one of the stations on that route, and afterwards on the Pilgrim route: see Appendix 7 to S. 26. Syria was the land on which God “had poured his blessings”, being a rich fertile country, where Abraham had lived: it includes the Holy Land of Palestine. The route was studded in the days of its prosperity with many stations (cities) close to each other, on which merchants could travel with ease and safety, “by night and by day”. The close proximity of stations prevented the inroads of highwaymen.